SophosLabs research discovered that 75 per cent of malware in an organization is unique to that organization which indicates the majority of attacks are zero-day. The only way to combat that is with the deep learning neural network that is integrated into the Sophos Email sandboxing technology to quickly identify never-before-seen malicious files sent in email.

Email continues to be a primary attack vector for cybercriminals to launch a spear-phishing, localized or ‘spray and pray’ campaign. Sophos processes data from more than ten million inboxes protected by Sophos Email every day. Approximately 80 per cent of the emails categorized as spam are found to have a malicious payload. As we’ve seen over the past few years, email is also the primary method used to spread ransomware.

A recent study by Sophos showed that more than 50 per cent of organizations worldwide have suffered a ransomware attack in the last 12 months. Sophos Email Advanced includes CryptoGuard technology in the sandbox to stop ransomware before it makes it to your employee’s inboxes.

Another primary defence against ransomware and phishing attacks is Time-of-Click protection, which scans the URL at the time of click, preventing stealthy and delayed attacks. Outbound scanning and multiple policy support can prevent a compromised organization from unintentionally forwarding malware or sending spam out to customers or partners, reducing the community impact of an attack and protecting an organization’s reputation.

“With the growth of cloud-based platforms such as Office365 and Google G-Suite, organizations need an advanced security solution that detects zero-day threats and advanced malware. Ransomware-As-A-Service (RaaS) and packaged malware kits have made it easier for cybercriminals to customize and deliver more complex, targeted attacks through email,” said Bill Lucchini, senior vice president and general manager, Messaging Security Group at Sophos.